


When the Day Met the Night

by simmilarly



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Love, Song: When the Day Met the Night (Panic! at the Disco), Zutara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24906691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simmilarly/pseuds/simmilarly
Summary: An exploration of Zuko and Katara's relationship, from the top. Loosely inspired by "When the Day Met the Night" by Panic! at the Disco.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	When the Day Met the Night

**Author's Note:**

> He was just hanging around, then he fell in love  
> And he didn't know how, but he couldn't get out
> 
> -
> 
> New to the fandom, but come on, how could you not ship Zutara? Anywho, feel free to leave some feedback!

Sunlight streamed through the half-shuttered window, rays dancing across the closed eyes of the Fire Lord. They fluttered open, moving at once to ensure that the woman he was sleeping next to was still there. He didn’t need to do this, of course, as he had felt her curled up beside him before his eyes landed on her. But there was a gentle comfort in confirming her presence, and Zuko was no longer in the business of denying himself these little comforts. 

He propped himself up on an elbow, eyes still scanning the woman’s sleeping face. He knew how much she enjoyed sleeping in, even though he was up with the sun every morning. He had said that to her once, hadn’t he? That he rose with the sun. Even though he hadn’t meant it in regards to sleeping, she had learned of his early-rising habit soon enough. 

His mind idly flitted to the memory of the day he’d said those words to her. She had hated him then; they were well-matched in their bending so their battle had been fierce, and it was only a stroke of luck that the dawn granted him the strength to escape from her icy grasp and kidnap Aang. He rose with the sun, indeed, but the blizzard blocked it out soon enough. Even his fire-bending wasn’t enough to keep him warm.

She, of course, didn’t feel that same compulsion to rise with the sun. She wasn’t a fire-bender; her ability wasn’t tied to the glowing ball of fire in the sky. Katara rose with the moon, which was also something he had said to her after she had thoroughly humiliated him at the Spirit Oasis. He had learned since that day that his face remained in her mind as the only face she could clearly label an enemy for a long time – but then, he mused, at least he was still in her mind in some capacity. Maybe she had felt something for him as he had, but her passion must’ve taken the form of hatred in those early days. 

As for him, it had never been hatred. In those early days, his actions were accompanied by a quiet resignation; he  _ had _ to capture the avatar, regardless of who got in his way. Even if it was a beautiful water-bender with a fierceness of the burning sun. He had known from the start that she would prove to be a problem, less due to her bending and more because he couldn’t get the thought of her out of his mind. It was even more unfortunate that she had aligned herself with the avatar, let alone for a moment that she was  _ water  _ and he was  _ fire _ . Polar opposites, nothing but bad for each other, direct enemies, or so he had thought. 

So they had both thought until their interaction in the cave. Under the lights from the crystals, he watched her emotions for him morph from pure fury to an angry confusion. He was a prisoner along with her, after all, so he must’ve done something unfavorable to the Fire Lord. 

If he hadn’t done something the Fire Lord would consider unfavorable before being imprisoned, he certainly did when Azula threw him into the cave with Katara. He had allowed himself to be vulnerable with her. True, it had been for just a moment, but he couldn’t explain his sudden need to relate to her. Not when she was so vulnerable with him, too, despite the fact that this was Zuko, someone she had no qualms about hating.

But it turned out that his moment of vulnerability helped him, even if that closeness to her only lasted as long as they were alone in the cave. He remembered the way his breath caught in his throat when her fingers caressed his scar. It was a stretch of wrinkled skin that even he was disgusted by, a mark of shame left by his own father. But she didn’t look at him with fear or disgust or even pity; in her eyes was a fierce determination to do the right thing, though he would always maintain that he didn’t deserve that kindness. 

She was going to heal him. 

True, she hadn’t, but that was only because Iroh and Aang had arrived to free them from their cave prison. But that look on her face when she had made her decision was one that he thought about often, another moment to add to his growing stockpile of Katara-based thoughts. It was an expression he had seen for all of five seconds before their rescue, and then in the hustle and bustle of the ensuing battle, he only caught glimpses of her. The expression on her face when he returned to the side of the Fire Lord was another one that he couldn’t get out of his head, but this one was different, haunting. Even when he was with Mai back in the Fire Kingdom, there were moments when he would close his eyes to see the water-bender’s furious eyes staring back at him. His heart would lurch every time.

Leaving her side was his biggest regret.

When he finally came to his senses and rejoined their little group, the damage had been done. Even after he somehow won the trust of the rest of the team, she wouldn’t even look in his direction. The few times she bothered to spare him a glance, it was a contemptuous look paired with some biting remark. Sometimes Zuko could swear that her distrust and anger hurt him more than being burned by his father did. 

The longer he stayed with the group, the more he could sense a change in her feelings towards him. Contempt became disdain, and disdain became resignation. He could deal with that, at least she was talking to him now. It was when he came back from his little field-trip with Sokka and brought their father back that he felt even a chip in her armor; that’s when he first saw a smile from her that was directed anywhere close to him. 

At the time, Zuko couldn’t understand for the life of him why it mattered to him so much whether Katara liked him or not. Whenever she crossed his mind when he was home, it’d fill him with such a sense of confusing frustration that he’d nearly fireball whoever was nearest to him. The frustration had ebbed when he joined team avatar, but the confusion lingered. Why did she matter to him? He’d been around beautiful women before; compared to them, Katara was somewhat simple and plain. So why was she the one his eyes seemed to focus on in a room? Why did his mind seem to fixate on her when he had nothing better to think of? 

Of course, Zuko now knew it to be the beginnings of affection and love. He smiled gently at the still-sleeping form of his wife, barely resisting the urge to brush her hair from the side of her face. Those big blue eyes, currently hiding beneath closed eyelids, still visited him whenever he would close his eyes. Those eyes thoroughly captivated him from the start, back when affection was new and love was still budding. 

But what had solidified his feelings for her, and, he suspected, sparked her feelings for him, was the little trip they took to find the killer of Katara’s mother. They had talked a lot during that trip, just the two of them, exchanging stories of their respective mothers and discussing the true meaning of power. He learned some of her deepest secrets that night, and to even it out, he had told her some of his. After they returned, it was clear that something in their dynamic had changed, not that either of them minded this at all. 

From then on, it was easy to fall back on her, and she felt the same about him. They became each other’s confidantes, their favorite sparring partners, the ones each of the two would seek out for a conversation when one was desperately needed. Watching the play on Ember Island, while slightly awkward, only made the presence of their affection for each other stronger. 

Funnily enough, Katara was the one to mention the unspoken feelings first. She had told Zuko of the conversation she and Aang had outside the theatre after the rest of them had gone to bed. He listened patiently, decidedly ignoring the twinge of annoyance that made itself present to him when she admitted that the avatar had kissed her. The annoyance quickly gave way to quiet wonder when she admitted to him that some of the confusion she mentioned to Aang had stemmed from her own lingering feelings for their newest addition to the group: him. 

Remembering that moment brought a sincere smile to the Fire Lord’s face. His wife – though then, of course, just his closest friend – shyly admitted to him that she had feelings for him and that she knew it was not the best time, that after the war they’d be going their separate ways anyway, that she wasn’t even sure if he liked her back... well, he couldn’t leave  _ that _ doubt in her mind. 

The kiss had been quick and gentle, just enough to cease her rambling. The kiss that followed was much slower, still just as tender, though they agreed after that one to keep their physical interactions to a minimum. After all, they had a war to fight, did they not? 

It was a no-brainer to Zuko for Katara to accompany him on his mission to defeat Azula. There was no one he trusted more, no offense to the rest of the team. It was confirmed to be a smart move when she healed his wounds from Azula’s lightning after she’d been safely locked up. An even smarter move, he had thought, when she kissed him deeply in thanks for taking the bolt for her. It was already second nature for him to return the kiss with the same vigor, in thanks for healing him.

Beside him, Fire Lady Katara stirred under the covers. He instantly dropped off his elbow, already numb from holding his weight for the five minutes he’d been awake. “You’re always up so early,” she yawned, squinting as the sunlight hit her eyes. 

“Don’t you remember?” he murmured, cradling her even closer to his chest. “You rise with the moon, and I rise with the sun.” 

They smiled at each other under the golden sky. The golden sky, home to sun and moon, smiled down on them as well. 

**Author's Note:**

> All was golden when the day met the night :)


End file.
